Gesink Discussion Thread

[Netserk]

He was also looking very strong going into the Tour that year, before crashing out before the mountains. Perhaps he would have been even better there than at the Vuelta, considering the Tour was the main goal for 2009.

Big shame he didn't get that stage win in the Vuelta in 2022. Would have been a nice final big result.

His last win was even better, so I'm not too gutted for him.

 

[Squire]

His last win was even better, so I'm not too gutted for him.

That was when he was still somewhat of a team leader though, only one year removed from a 6th overall in the Tour. So less of the underdog story. But still a great win, I agree.

 

[Lequack]

The legend that is Robert Gesink has just ridden his final race in his long career. Congratulations to him in his retirement.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1832870397207097504

View: https://x.com/vismaleaseabike/status/1832870397207097504

https://twitter.com/x/status/1832817648263930048

View: https://x.com/lavuelta/status/1832817648263930048

 

[movingtarget]

Had horrible luck with crashes in the best years of his career. Almost podiumed in the Tour one year and turned out to be a very good domestique in his later years. Nice career.

 

[MJR]

Farewell, Robert, and congratulations on a fine career!

 

[Cookster15]

Congrats on a long and successful career. Was at one point the big hope of the Dutch. Has been around for eternity.

 

[Scarponi]

One of the last riders from the generation when I truly started to focus on Cycling. Enjoy retirement Robert

 

[Berniece]

He was close to ride podium and maybe even win the Vuelta early in his career, until he crashed out. When he started out, people compared him to Nibali, but he never reached those heights.

 

[Squire]

One of the last riders from the generation when I truly started to focus on Cycling. Enjoy retirement Robert

Bit of the same thing here. Possibly the last remaining rider who was an actual star when I started properly branching out my cycling interest beyond the Tour de France (late 2009). Uran and Fuglsang weren't quite as established back then, and Sevilla was already out in the cold.

 

[Lequack]

And some retirement advice from Jens Voigt, from a few years back

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31I3L6luTfY

 

[theyoungest]

He was close to ride podium and maybe even win the Vuelta early in his career, until he crashed out. When he started out, people compared him to Nibali, but he never reached those heights.

I think too many injuries, and especially the complicated hip fracture he had in 2010 I think it was, really derailed his career. He started out very good but just never really developed from there.

I've always admired his resilience, but I think without all the bad luck he could have been much better than he eventually turned out.

 

[Sciatic]

One of the last riders from the generation when I truly started to focus on Cycling. Enjoy retirement Robert

Definitely for me Gesink was one of common subjects of discussion when I started reading the forum, in part because there was a large contingent of active Dutch posters. There was this ongoing debate between Dekker Tifosi and forget who else about whether Gesink or Nibali was the better time trialer.

 

[Samu Cuenca]

It wasn't one of his first promising results, and I don't think I watched it until a while after it had happened, but I believe the first I really saw of him was the highlight video from the 2006 Settimana Ciclistica Lombarda, which it turned out Dekker Tifosi had been responsible for uploading to YouTube.

I regret not bidding on his yellow jersey from the 2008 Paris Nice when it was part of the auction that raised money for Amy Pieters' rehabilitation two years ago. Watching him putting the hurt on Evans and Co. made me a fan, especially since he didn't even win the stage nor the race, as I've always had a soft spot for the underdogs. Sadly he became a part of a long list of Dutch Rabobank talents from those years, who, for different reasons, didn't go on to completely dominate cycling for the next two decades.

But Gesink eventually settled into a role of being a valuable teammate, and with all his crashes in mind, it's also quite an achievement that his career ended up lasting as longs as it has. There are not many riders left that rode for a PT team in 2007 (if we exclude the gravel riders), and most, if not all, of them will retire after this season.

 

[CyclistAbi]

Thanks for all the pulls Robi!